The new pope is a Wildcat through and through.
Even while ministering in faraway Peru, Robert Francis Prevost kept up with his alma mater, Villanova University, a Catholic college of approximately 10,000 outside Philadelphia known for its perennially successful men’s basketball team, the Wildcats. He even has an enviable collection of school merch.
Upon hearing the news on Thursday that Prevost — who graduated in 1977 with a B.S. in mathematics and awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree there in 2014 — was elected leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Villanova’s president, Rev. Peter M. Donohue, sent a congratulatory email to the new pontiff.
“I called him ‘Bob.’ And I was like, “I’m sorry, Leo,’” Donohue, who has helmed the college since 2006, told The Post.
Prevost, the 267th leader of the church and the first American pope, is now Leo XIV.
But back when he was skinny undergrad at Nova, he was just Robert.
The Chicago native was in what the church calls the “formation period” prior to becoming a priest.
“It’s a period of examining and looking at what it is, and do you want to live this life, but you’re not in vows or anything. So when he finished college is when he actually officially joined,” Donohue explained.
Prevost lived in the St. Mary’s Hall dormitory on campus, a place that one day might have a plaque memorializing its most famous resident.
“I should — I’ll have to think about it. We should find out exactly what room he was in,” Father Donohue said.
Rev. William Lego was a classmate and dormmate of Prevost’s, and said he and the future pope founded the university’s pro-life club.
“After Roe versus Wade [in 1973], he was part of the group that started Villanovans for Life. We were all part of that,” Lego recalled.
Lego, also a Chicago native, has known Prevost since they were in sixth grade.
The pair attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan together and also the novitiate — a time of discernment before the priesthood — at a parish in St. Louis.
“He’s very naturally gifted as a student, so things came naturally to him so it wasn’t a big task for him to study,” he said. “He would process a lot of information.”
Rev. Robert Hagan, chaplain of Villanova’s men’s basketball and football programs, met Prevost in 1997 and was immediately impressed.
“I could tell right away that this was somebody that was really bright, really articulate, and a good preacher,” he said.
“And yet at the same time, he was very relatable and friendly.”
Hagan was touched when he received an email from Prevost congratulating him on his election as prior provincial.
“When I got this job, which is a job that he held in the Midwest, he was one of the first emails that I got,” he recalled.
His Villanova brethren say he is destined for success.
“He’s a really good listener. He really cares about people, ” Donohue said.
“His ministry for most of his life was in Peru amongst very poor communities. So he’s used to hearing people’s needs and trying to answer those needs. And he’s very intelligent.”
“There’s no question he’s a clear thinker,” Hagan added. “As an Augustinian teacher, he’s used to taking complex matters and expressing them in clear, concise, intelligible ways. So I think we’re going to find him to be easy to understand as a writer and a speaker.”
Prevost once headed the church’s Augustinian Order, which emphasizes community, charity, truth and unity, and follows the teachings of St. Augustine, one of Western Civilization’s most important scholars and philosophers.
However, Leo XIV may need some time to get acclimated.
“He enjoys being around people. So I think in some ways, this is going to be a real adjustment for him. It’s a life that is no longer yours. A lot of security, a lot of people telling you where to go, when to go, how to go,” Donohue said.
There are more than just Villanova priests in the pope’s cheering section.
Knicks star and fellow Nova alum Jalen Brunson is pumped to see the university get so much attention for its newly famous alum. “I’m just happy that we’re getting noticed for being a good school,” he told The Post on Friday.
The NBA All-Star, speaking at practice as he prepped for Saturday’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, said of the pope, “It’s really cool for him and I’m very happy for him, but I’m focused right now.”
Brunson’s coach, Tom Thibodeau, said Brunson, as well as the other two Nova alums on the team, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, should be glad a fellow alum is now sitting in St. Peter’s chair.
“Yeah, now they can be forgiven for their sins,” he quipped.
